Giorgio Ferrini

Ferrini grew up in the youth team of Ponziana and in 1955 was signed by Torino and inserted in their youth system, where he stayed for three years. In 1957, he was auditioned by the national team manager Giuseppe Galluzzi in view of an international youth tournament. On 11 August 1958, Ferrini was loaned to Varese in Serie C. In his only season with the biancorossi, he contributed 10 goals to the salvation of the team, playing mainly as a starter. Ferrini played a wide midfielder position.

Returning from loan, he contended his starting spot with Italo Mazzero in the midfield as the team were preparing to play in the Serie B. On 20 September 1959, he made his debut with Torino away to Sambenedettese (0–0) and the following week scored his first goal at home against Cagliari (5–0). He finished the season with 38 appearances and three goals, achieving direct promotion to Serie A and becoming fundamental to the club for his pace and determination. In the following season, he was confirmed as a key player for Torino by the manager Benjamín Santos, and debuted in Serie A on 25 September 1960 in a loss to Sampdoria (0–1). Along with Remo Lancioni, he made the most appearances during the season, finishing 12th in the league. He spent 16 seasons with Torino, becoming the club's most capped player in the top flight, with 39 goals scored in 405 appearances; in total, he made 566 appearances and scored 56 goals between the league, Coppa Italia and European competition. He won two Coppa…

He was summoned by the national team manager Gipo Viani to represent the Azzurri, who finished in fourth place at the Olympic tournament held in Rome in 1960, playing three times. Also in 1960, he was called up to the Nazionale di Lega della Serie A under-23 against the homologous team of the English League, which he entered in the 30th minute, replacing Giacomo Bulgarelli. He was first called up to the Italy national team on 13 May 1962 against Belgium, on the eve of the FIFA World Cup in Chile. During the competition he is remembered as one of his team's protagonists, along with Mario David, against the hosts Chile, a match later colloquially known as the Battle of Santiago. After seven minutes, he was sent off by the English referee Ken Aston for a violent foul against the Chilean Honorino Landa. Ferrini refused to leave the ground, however, and continued to play until the police intervened to remove him from the field. Italy lost the match 2–0 and was eliminated in the first round of the tournament. Unlike many Italian players from that World Cup, he returned to play for the national team, and his last game was the first of the final two games of the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship against Yugoslavia, played on 8 June 1968. He played a total of seven matches with the Azzurri.

Club

Torino Coppa Italia (2): 1967–68, 1970–71

International

Italy UEFA European Championship (1): 1968

Individual

Torino FC Hall of Fame: 2014